


kid from the future

by dreamthieff



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Changing POVs, Future Kid AU, M/M, Non-binary character, SHEITH - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:40:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27642896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamthieff/pseuds/dreamthieff
Summary: After bringing Shiro’s consciousness back to the clone’s body, the paladins get lost after a strange malfunction sends them to an unknown galaxy.Keith has been worried about Shiro’s mental health after everything he’s been through. Plus, he’s felt unable to keep his feelings for him hidden any longer, but he doesn’t want to disclose anything with Shiro seeming so out of it.Before Keith can decide what to do, a mysterious spaceship appears close to them with a surprise, a young Marmora member from the future. What’s strangest, they are human and seem to know exactly who they are.With their help, Keith and Shiro end up discovering more about themselves than they ever thought.Or, alternative: Keith and Shiro meet their future kid.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61





	1. Orion

From one side of the couch, Keith watched as Shiro played with the loose strings of his clothes. They’d been blindly travelling for a while after a strange malfunction of the ship sent them flying to an unknown galaxy. 

Allura and Pidge were trying to figure out how to somehow fix the situation, while also being fascinated by the fact that they were somewhere no other species had ever visited before. The rest of the paladins had also been just as mesmerized by the beautiful colors of this galaxy, filled with far reach wonders they had not even heard of in physics class. However, after a few weeks passed, they had gotten extremely bored. 

Reason why they were just… hanging out in the common room. While Pidge and Allura were on the side checking out coordinates, Hunk and Lance were playing what seemed to be finger soccer with a ball made out of paper. 

“Hurray!” Lance said when the ball had landed on Hunk’s face. 

“That doesn’t count!”

Keith was on the couch, carefully cleaning his blade, while Shiro was on the other side staring at… nothing. 

They had been talking a few minutes before, but then Shiro had gotten side tracked, fading and turning into his own thoughts. Keith couldn’t blame him. He had… died and came back to life to one of the many clones of his own body. 

He knew Shiro, and how even though terrible, awfully traumatizing things had happened to him, he always managed to set those feelings aside for practicality. As much as it broke Keith’s heart, it was what he did. Except for now.

He couldn’t speak for the rest, but at least he could see how stiff the creases around Shiro’s eyes and mouth were. How precise his answers were, and how anxiety driven were his hands while playing with the fabric of his shirt.

It hurt Keith tremendously. It hurt as if it were his own pain. 

Ever since Shiro had gotten back to himself, he had tried to reach out, but he was always gently pushed away by his friend. Telling him that he was okay, that he could deal with it himself. But Keith hated the idea of him doing it alone. He wanted to be there with him every step of the way. He wanted to be able to hold Shiro tight and never let him go. To tell him that his pain was also his, and that he would do anything in his power to help him.

And he really would. 

But Keith knew that those actions were not lightweight. He knew that what he meant behind all those feelings of frustration and selfishness was that he loved Shiro with everything he had. 

And telling him his thoughts, especially in the state Shiro was at the moment… Keith didn’t know if he could. 

Shiro would either accept his love just out of necessity for comfort or reject him with that warming gentleness that he always treated Keith with. He knew that the former was the least plausible, considering that Shiro would never play with Keith’s feelings. So all that was left would be his sweet rejection. 

He knew that he couldn’t handle that, and he didn’t want things to be awkward for them, especially considering the state of Shiro’s emotional well-being, and that the situation with the castle hindered Keith from running away from his heartbreak. 

He knew Shiro would never let it be awkward, but still… 

And the idea of Shiro genuinely loving him back did not seem very likely. Or at least… no, he didn’t know. 

So all that he could do at the time was being there for his friend in all the ways he could. And it had to be enough for him. 

When he was about to draw Shiro’s attention back, the castle suddenly shook. 

“Woah, what the hell was that?” Lance tried to stabilize himself on the couch. Keith and Shiro were already on their feet. 

“Uh, guys?” Pidge looked out a panel window. “I think we’ve got company.”

As him and the others gathered to take a look, Keith noticed that the reason the castle had shaken was because another, smaller ship had suddenly appeared next to theirs. 

“We got no signal whatsoever of a ship coming our way,” Allura frowned. 

“They must have gotten here the same way we did.” Shiro commented from behind Keith’s shoulder.

Lance moved closer to take a look, “That, or we’ve been followed.”

They all moved to the control area where Coran, Krolia and Romelle were. 

“What seems to have happened?” Coran exclaimed. 

Keith moved next to his mother. “A ship suddenly appeared next to the castle. Coran, can you try to communicate with the pilot?”

“On it!”

Before settling on the pilot, the screen gave them a closer look of the ship.

“It’s…” Hunk began saying. 

“It’s not an alien ship.” Pidge finished. 

Keith saw as Shiro walked closer to the screen, a frown on his face. “That… seems like a model they had been working on at the Garrison’s.”

He looked at Keith and mirrored his frown. 

“It’s human made.”

“But look,” Romelle pointed. “It’s... also got... Altean technology.”

“It’s like it’s mixed technology!” Pidge almost yelled. 

They all looked at each other in confusion. Then, the screen finally focused on its pilot who was… “That’s a member of the blades.”

Keith shared a look with Krolia who consequently approached the controls. “Soldier, please identify.”

No response. 

“Are they dead?” Lance exclaimed. 

Keith rolled his eyes but Shiro answered before he could. “Seems like they're just unconscious. We’ve got to get them here.”

\------

With the ship already in the castle, the paladins settled themselves around it. Shiro smiled to himself as he noticed that Keith was the first one to approach it. 

It was a little wild to him how much Keith had changed. He had very blurry memories of his… clone, but what mostly stands out whenever he wants to access them is Keith. Keith. Keith. 

Keith saving him, doing anything in his power to do it. 

He always knew that Keith would become an outstanding, incredible man, but with everything that had happened, it was like he was seeing him in an entirely new light. 

As if his feet were moving on his own, he followed him to the ship. He realized that the door was smooth and did not seem to have any creases from where they could pull and open it. 

He saw Keith carefully reach out a hand towards it, and as soon as he touched it, the door sprung open. 

“It seems to open by touch recognition.” Pidge frowned. “But why would it recognize you?”

Shiro, too, raised an eyebrow at that, but still snorted to himself and followed Keith inside as he shrugged and said “Just alien things, I guess.”

The both of them carried the pilot out and managed to place them on a smooth surface. 

Not for the first time that day, or… lately, he felt Keith’s eyes on him for a second, before he carefully took off the pilot’s mask. 

What struck them the most at first was that the face they ran into was a human one. He and Keith looked at each other in confusion. 

The person, Shiro thought, seemed like they were around 18 or 19 years old. They slowly started opening their eyes and seemed confused for a moment before they finally jumped at the sight of all of them. 

“Holy shit.” A smooth voice exclaimed. 

Both he and Keith stepped aside to give them some space. Shiro noticed that this person had Japanese features. They also got long-ish wavy black hair shaved on the sides. He also realized that the shape of their face, the shape of their mouth and nose seemed… oddly familiar. 

He noticed a strange feeling… like a thought that crossed through his mind but he’d no access to. He’d a lot of experience with those, but this one seemed… different. Not bad, just. Different. 

Allura’s tone was careful when she asked, “Who are you?”

The human wore on their face a look that ranged between utter shock and amusement. Shiro was still struggling to understand how and why it felt like he should know them. 

They seemed to notice how shaken up everyone was, because they shook their head, faced everyone and their posture changed to a more solemn, diplomatic look.

“My name is Orion,” they said standing tall. “And I’m from the future.”

\------

Allura decided to move to the common room to have their guest eat and feel more comfortable. 

Keith watched this- Orion carefully as they ate the space food. He tried to look for anything that seemed odd about them, anything that could imply danger for them. But they just sat politely enough, not being overly nice or rude or anything, but with a naturality that seemed like they just… fit.

It was strange, and so he shared a look with Krolia who seemed to be doing her own calculations in her head. She shrugged. 

Pidge sat fascinated beside them as they ate the space food as if they had not only already tasted it, but like it may be part of their usual diet or something. 

“So, humans have finally built a time machine that manages to carry small weights and rearrange particles with no major consequence, huh?” She blinked. “Oh! I’m Pidge, by the way.”

They smiled. “Yeah, actually, y- uh, I mean, someone I know invented it. They’re usually heavily supervised and we never use them unless it’s for emergency purposes.” Their smile wavered from mischievous and apologetic. “This was, huh, sort of an accident.”

Keith frowned at them, and as their eyes met, Orion seemed to look as if they felt guiltier. 

Keith couldn’t help but smile, because somehow he could see himself being in the same position. He looked to where Shiro was and found that he was also smiling, but as if unaware that he was doing it. 

“And,” Orion added absentminded, “I do know who you are.”

Lance smiled. “Really? Does that mean that we’re gonna be famous?”

Everyone couldn’t help but look at Orion expectantly, who stopped mid bite and looked like a cornered cat. 

They ran their fingers through their hair and smiled awkwardly. A nervous habit, Keith thought, not knowing why. 

“I can’t say much about that, I really don’t want to mess up more than I already have. But, either way, as far along as you are right now, you are already considered legends.”

There all shared stunned looks of acknowledgement, and the air seemed to shift to something somewhat glorious. 

They had been called heroes countless times, but the fact that it was acknowledged by a human that came from whatever more years onwards… it felt huge. 

Keith never really felt like he belonged anywhere, but as in this place in time, maybe he belonged where he was. 

His eyes drifted to where Shiro was, who seemed to look proud as well. He tried guessing what could be going through his mind, Keith guessed that it was probably something regarding how everything he had gone through might have been worth it in the end. 

Keith felt like nothing in the entire universe was worth Shiro’s pain, but if he put himself in his shoes… he got it. And it wasn’t fair. 

He smiled at him and he smiled back. 

The world doesn’t deserve you Takashi Shirogane, he thought, we’re all lucky to have you. 

When he turned back, he saw Orion looking at their food with a smile on their face. 

Besides him, Krolia came forward. “As I can see, the blade is still operational in your time.”

Keith froze a little. The implications were big. 

Orion fixed their posture. 

“Yes,” they said and seemed to calculate their words and body language as they saw how attentive everyone was. “But it’s… not what you think.”

She seemed to stare at them for a long time. Orion didn’t even waver under her intimidating gaze, which seemed odd to Keith. But maybe it shouldn’t surprise him. After all, they seemed to have undergone blade training. 

Krolia seemed to have figured them out faster than he could, though, because suddenly her gaze soothed and she nodded at them. “Very well.”

Keith raised an eyebrow at her, and she just gave him a little smile. 

“Oh,” Lance pouted. “You really can’t give us anything? Are there records that I will eventually get bald?”

Orion broke their partiality and snorted, and Allura rolled her eyes. 

“No, Lance. If they tell us more it can mess with the outcomes.”

“But what if the outcomes are… bad?” Hunk asked. 

There was silence in the room.

“That would be our responsibility.” Shiro interfered. “Not Orion’s.”

He smiled at Orion sympathetically and the anxiety that had been in their eyes seemed to fade away. Keith called that The Shiro Effect. He wondered how it could work so naturally well with a stranger. 

“We still haven’t figured out completely how time and relativity work in all universes in my time. Even though we could say it’s pure mathematical probability… there’s a bit of something more. I think the fact that I’m here has to mean something.”

Pidge nodded. “It could mean that the events that unfold in the future and you being here may have a correlation.”

“Yeah,” Orion smiled, “that… or I’ll fuck everything up.”

Keith snorted at that. 

He wanted to be on alert, but something told him that Orion could be trusted. And he had learned to trust his gut.

Orion cleared his throat and considered. “I think I can tell you two things.”

They left his food down and stood tall. They were around Keith’s height. 

They looked at all of them with intent, and Keith realized that whatever they said… would mean everything. 

“Firstly, I... personally know you. You are, uh, acquainted with my family. 25 years from now on.”

Keith looked at Shiro.

Alive. That means, 25 years from now, they would be alive. At least, hopefully, all of them. 

His heart shook against his chest. 

Orion tried to keep a straight face, but Keith now saw in their eyes what he hadn’t known what to make of before – familiarity, recognition. 

They sighed, considering their words. 

“Lastly, an advice. Don’t let grudges or pride or fear get in your way.” They said it addressed all of them, as if talking about the team. He thought Orion seemed to look at him a little longer, but maybe that was just his imagination. “Stick together and hold onto each other.”

\------

After a while of conversation and questions, Allura walked Orion into a separate room so they could rest before they all helped on working on their ship. 

Everyone else also went into their rooms. Everything seemed to have overwhelmed most of them, and Shiro couldn’t blame them, because he was also shaken up himself. 

He decided to walk around the castle before heading into his room, to clear his thoughts. Lately it had been incredibly difficult to get rid of them, because they just came and went as they wished. He could access most of his memories pre Kerberos pretty well, but after that… It was a puzzle. 

Shiro was a resourceful person, and he prided himself on being one. He was practical and responsible. He had been tested so many times in life that he had somewhat just managed to always be two steps ahead of everything. 

But now, he admitted that he didn’t know what to do. 

He knew he couldn’t keep quiet about this forever, because sometimes his thoughts and emotions were over the roof, and eventually… he didn’t know what could happen to him. 

Shiro knew he needed to talk to someone, he did. He especially knew he needed to talk to Keith. 

But he felt so goddamn guilty. 

He tried to keep it together, pretend everything was normal, but sometimes he couldn’t dare to look Keith in the eye. His... scar. He could have killed him. Damn, he almost killed the both of them. 

He put the whole team in danger. He put Keith in danger. He… almost… he...

He felt so ashamed of himself. For being used that way, for not being strong enough. 

He tried to steady his breath, and as he did so he realized that he was outside of Keith’s door. It was halfway open, and at Shiro’s movement of surprise, Keith’s figure perked on the side. “Shiro?”

“Sorry," he cringed. "Did I bother you?”

Keith was wearing his training clothes, and clearing the sweat off his forehead with the bottom part of his shirt. Shiro cleared his throat.

“No, no. I was just done. Wanna come in?”

He blamed his sudden dizziness on his emotional state and gave Keith a small smile. “Sure.”

He placed himself against the wall and crossed his arms. Keith grabbed his bottle and drank, and still focused on looking at Shiro with all the attentiveness in the world. Shiro wondered if it had always been this way, or maybe he just started noticing lately. 

He didn’t feel exactly exposed, just… seen. 

“How are you feeling? You know, with this snippet of Back to the Future.”

Keith laughed and he felt himself relax at the sound. 

“I mean, we are the paladins of giant lion robots that form an enormous figure called Voltron, and we are in space defending civilizations we never even dreamed existed… I could say nothing can surprise me anymore.”

“But somehow it’s still incredible.” He followed.

“It’s amazing.” Keith shook his head and wrinkled his nose. “And scary.”

“Yeah,” Shiro contemplated. A future he knew nothing about, one he couldn’t see. What we don’t know is, indeed, scary. And he’d thought of it countless times, but now it didn’t seem to weigh that much, or so he noticed. “At least we know there’s one. A future, I mean.”

Keith looked up and smiled. “Yeah.”

He smiled back at him, without realizing, and they both looked at each other with relaxed smiles on their faces in the comfort of their silence. And the comfort of this tiny piece of knowledge. Knowledge that hinted them that, at least, maybe, they might be okay. That he might get to spend more time with his friends. 

That he might get to spend more time with Keith. 

But there it was again, the feeling of not deserving it. 

The guilt, the shame.

He tried to keep his face normal, but he couldn’t even trust his body anymore.

"Shiro?" He heard Keith ask and when he raised his eyes to look at him he felt his heart sink. 

Keith did not look at him with pity. He never did, and that's one the things he had always been grateful for. 

What he did was look at him with regulated attention. Trying not to give away anything he didn't want, but wanting to let you know he would be there unconditionally.

Now, though, his eyes were big, earnest and filled with just So. Much.

"I'm here. You know that, right?" Keith stood up, and Shiro didn't know what face he must have been pulling for Keith to react. "I'm here. Whenever." 

Shiro's mind spiralled and his heart was racing. Panic attack. He couldn't talk to Keith, like this. He needed to go.

"Sorry, I- I need to go for a walk. G'night." 

He knew he had completely sucked at acting normal but he just didn't know what to do. He hated feeling like this, like a child, helpless, dishonest.

He decided to go to the kitchen and grab himself something to cool down.

He entered, sat himself on the floor against a counter and closed his eyes for a bit. As he opened them, he saw a figure sitting on the table. 

"Sorry, I thought nobody was here."

Orion was eating what seemed to be the rest of space food. They looked as if they had been caught doing something bad, which amused Shiro a bit, making him feel a little lighter. 

"I was just exploring the castle, and suddenly ran into the kitchen. This plate just accidentally landed on my hands."

Shiro found himself with enough energy to laugh. "I can't believe you actually like that stuff."

They laughed back. They were no longer in their Blade uniform and were now wearing a shirt Keith had, amazingly enough, lended them, and some shorts that appeared to be Lance's. "I guess I've been privileged enough to have been exposed to many different types of dishes. Space life, I guess. Still, I can never resist this food, especially if Hunk prepared it."

Shiro hummed and raised an eyebrow. "You go many places with the Blade?"

They left the plate on the table. 

"I mean, I do, yes. But when I was a kid I also travelled a lot with my," they cleared their throat, "my parents."

He nodded. "It's incredible how in the near future people, families will be able to just visit space. Young me only dreamed of it."

Orion smiled. "I mean, if you think of it, most of it will be possible because of you guys." 

They pointed at the spot next to Shiro and he nodded, having them sit next to them on the floor.

"I mean, I guess." He frowned at them jokingly. "It's you who's got the monopoly of the truth out here."

Orion snorted and rolled their eyes. "Right, right. Apparently I'm very bad at keeping my mouth shut. I don't know how I made it to the Blades."

"You just wear your heart on your sleeve." He smiled. "Keith is like that too, and he is a blade, so don't sell yourself short."

Orion kept quiet and nodded very slowly, with a little smirk on their face. 

They shared silence comfortably for a while.

Then Shiro sighed, and rested his head on the wall.

He heard Orion talk besides him. "Did I catch you in a bad time?"

Shiro gave him a little smile. He didn't want to be rude. Ever since they'd introduced themselves, Shiro could not help but want to protect this person. To help them so they could get home safely to his people. 

They could be a liar, a mirage from this unknown galaxy, or even an alien in disguise. But if they were, then they had fooled Shiro completely. 

"Mm, I just have been going through some things, that's all. But I'll be better eventually, so it's fine."

He saw as Orion frowned and nodded, taking in the words.

"Remember what I said back in the common room?"

Shiro raised an eyebrow and remembered. "I do. What does it have to do with this?"

"I… I don't have to be an historian to at least have an idea of what you have gone through. An idea of what you all have gone through." They sighed. "Would you mind if I tell you about my dad?"

Shiro frowned. "Go ahead." 

"He has PTSD, from… things he went through before I was born. What I've learned from what he has told me is that, for a long time, he hindered himself from getting better because of fear."

Shiro felt something strange at the bottom of his stomach. 

Orion started again, carefully. "Fear of realizing that what happened to him wasn't his fault."

And then he froze.

"Thinking that it was his fault gave him an excuse to isolate himself. If you want me to stop talking just tell me."

He felt his blood on his ears, but he felt like he had to keep listening. "No, keep going."

"The thing is, we all need people. I think that something this big ass universe has taught us is that, it's all meaningless if we don't have anyone to contemplate its beauties and survive its horrors with."

Shiro went quiet for a while, he suddenly remembered his grandfather telling him something very similar when he was a kid. He couldn't believe he had forgotten. 

"Thank you, Orion. You're a great person." He pushed their shoulder with his. "And very wise."

They seemed to beam at this and hummed. "I guess my parents just did a great job."

He felt all the puzzles on his mind shift, and shift and shift. There was something he felt, somewhere on his chest. 

"Is your dad better now? I mean, in your time."

Orion cleared their throat and ran their fingers through their hair. "He has his ups and downs, naturally. But I think I can say he's genuinely happy. He's got his family and friends to lean on. We're all a unit, especially papa, dad and I."

"Oh." Shiro raised an eyebrow. "You're very lucky, then."

Shiro's mind went to his fellow paladins. They had gone through so many things together and had learnt how to rely on one another. He felt his guilt rise up but then _really_ thought of all of them. 

Would he blame any of them for something they had no power on? Had it been anyone else to have been captured, tortured and cloned? 

What if it had been Keith? Shiro didn't even want to begin thinking about that possibility. He couldn't stand the thought of him suffering. But if it had been him… Shiro wouldn't have even considered holding a grudge. He couldn't. 

And maybe Keith couldn't either. At least he hoped. 

Oh. At least now he hoped.

"I think I'm lucky too." He nodded, mostly to himself. "I also have my unit." 

Orion nodded, as if they knew and agreed and Shiro raised an eyebrow at them.

They stopped in a halt. "I mean, that's what I've heard from you."

Shiro frowned, and now his brain was less foggy, he started to consider…

"So how did you guys get here to Entraptica." They intercepted quickly.

"Is that how this galaxy is called?"

They planted a palm on their face and groaned and Shiro couldn't help but snort. 

"I think I'm not gonna talk anymore." When Orion finally removed their palms from their face, they looked back at Shiro. "But I am super willing to listen."

And with that Shiro started telling them how after he had… returned to his body they had run into a few wormholes and, yeah. 

And as he started telling him more random stories about the team and what they had done and gone through, shenanigans and struggles, he noticed that Orion's diplomatic or somewhat "polite" demeanor started fading, revealing what seemed to be… excitement.

Shiro wondered how important they could be in general to generate such interest. It was thrilling, but it was enough to soothe him and make him feel like not pushing for more answers. He… would eventually find out.

One thing he thought he should ask, though, was whether or not Orion had any Japanese heritage; which they responded with a hand through their head and a "Yeah... I do."

They also spoke Japanese fluently and Shiro hadn't realized how much he had needed to speak his mother tongue with someone else.

He found out Orion was fluent in almost 10 languages. 

"In my time you kind of have to know many languages, Terrean languages and, well, 'Alien' ones." They said and buried their head on their knees as Shiro commented how impressed he was.

They went on telling him some stories about different Alien cultures they had explored and visited. "I think these ones I can tell you."

Shiro smiled and shook his head.

After a while of talking, Orion started yawning and admitted to not having slept when they were supposed to, so Shiro sent them off gently.

After they left, he couldn't shake off the feeling that had been setting itself in him ever since he saw Orion's face. Even though he felt calmer now, his heart rate was somewhat… high. 

He felt like he wanted to do something for them, and so, before going to his room, he went off to check Orion's ship to give it a quick assessment and, if he had any luck opening it, figure out what was wrong.

Because it was a little dark he didn't notice there was a small crack on the floor. He managed to hold himself on the ship and as soon as his hands touched it, the door opened. He frowned.

He didn't have the opportunity to give it a better look when he and Keith were taking Orion out, but he could now see it all as its insides illuminated in a beautiful lilac color.

He realized that he shouldn't be peaking on futuristic technology, but at the same time he couldn't keep his eyes away.

The screen illuminated then, revealing the kind of technology that impressed even him. What his eyes first caught was what was written underneath it. 

ERROR WITH ENERGIZER CONTROL

ERROR WITH PANDORAM ENERGIZERS

ERROR WITH LOCK N# 764

Shiro nodded to himself. He had no idea what a Pandoram energizer was, but he thought he could help with the controls and the locks.

It was when he moved his head again to assess the whole screen that he saw it.

And everything he had been feeling since their arrival made sense.

He felt as though he should have been more surprised, but what had made the hair on his arms rise up was not entirely shock. It was predominantly a thrill that ran through most of his body.

Because on the screen it read, "Welcome back, Orion Shirogane."


	2. Until we meet again

Keith barely got any sleep that night. He didn’t want his worry to rule over him, since it wasn’t the first time Shiro got all strange. But, at the same time, he was getting tired. 

Not tired of Shiro. Never.

He was getting tired of feeling so helpless and useless all the time. He was frustrated. He wanted, needed to do more. 

When he got to the kitchen, he saw that Lance and Allura were already up with Orion.

“Just one thing. One.” Lance begged. “Am I hot as an older dude?”

Orion laughed and Allura closed her eyes as if begging herself for patience. 

“I mean, you still have most of your hair.”

Lance’s entire face distorted into panic and Keith couldn’t help but let out a genuine laugh. Especially noticing by Orion’s tone and face that they were just messing with Lance.

“See, Lance? It’s that alien product you put in your hair. I’ve told you that it’d disintegrate eventually.” Keith shrugged and made eye contact with Orion who was trying not to laugh. 

Allura was also containing her laughter and shaking her head. Lance got up dramatically from his seat.

“I am throwing away that piece of hellish garbage right at this second.” He stopped. “Wait. If I stop using it, will I change the course of the future?”

The others were already coming into the kitchen. Keith, obviously, noticed Shiro first. He thought he would seem tired, or detached or... anything. But he seemed… fine. He actually looked fine. Something had changed in his demeanor. There was something different in his eyes. 

He smiled at Keith as he placed himself besides him and then smiled and nodded at Orion, who smiled and nodded back. 

“Wait, what’s gonna change the course of the future?” Pidge said as she placed herself on top of the table. “Lance, what did you do now?”

“Future me is going to be bald!” He exclaimed. “And If I try to avoid it, I may change the future forever.”

Pidge looked at Orion who raised their eyebrows and then back at Lance. “I mean, you’re not wrong.”

Shiro seemed to contemplate it and looked at Lance with what Keith knew was concealed amusement. “It must be that alien lotion that you use. They never really said what it was made of.”

Keith raised an eyebrow at Lance. “See?”

Lance threw his arms in the air in mortification.

Keith then looked at Orion who was on the verge of giving it all away and then at Shiro who was looking at them both shaking his head in amusement. 

Everyone seemed busy making fun of Lance, so Keith tried to take the opportunity to take Shiro aside and talk to him about what had happened.

However, Coran appeared from the door right at that moment. “Hey! Princess, Lance, Shiro, would you mind coming with me? I think we might have more theories about our whereabouts.”

Allura and Lance got up and followed and Shiro stopped at the door to address Orion. “It shouldn’t take long. We’ll be back in a bit to help you with your ship.”

“No worries, I know you guys also have your issue here. It’s already kind enough of you to agree to help me.”

Shiro smiled at them and nodded, and Keith raised an eyebrow. 

“Can we go take a look at it now? We can do a general assessment in the meantime!” Pidge jumped from the table, visibly excited to see the futuristic ship again. Hunk was following along. 

“That’d be great,” Orion said and got up. As they were at the door with the others, they looked after Keith expecant. 

“I’d just be in the way if it's an assessment. I’ll join you guys later and help out however I can.” He reassured them and Orion nodded at him with a smile, just as Shiro had done a few minutes before. 

He decided to go to the training room for a bit to clear up his mind. He felt a little stupid being so worried. It was not like it was all he thought about, but he couldn’t help Shiro occupying a huge part of his mind. He couldn’t help wanting the other man to be as happy as he deserved to be. He couldn’t help wanting to do whatever it was in his power to aid that happiness.

He just couldn’t help being in love. 

Keith let out a breath and shook his head as he began fighting with the robots. It had been a while since he had last done it and realized how much he had progressed in terms of his fighting skills. In no time he was already practicing with the opponent of higher level, who was able to anticipate Keith’s movements better than the rest. But that just encouraged his imagination and became more mindful when using the element of surprise. When the robot was heading his way he slided on the floor aiding himself with the robot’s hips and dropped it by intertwining his legs with its’. Keith used his blade to guard his chest, while he moved fast to smack his hand against the robot’s face and slammed it to the floor.

“Woah.” 

He jumped a little and looked over where the voice was coming, but in that second the robot instantly flipped their positions. With a robot hand squishing his cheek, he quickly muttered. “End simulation.”

The robot dropped and so Keith could finally turn towards the door, where Orion looked between embarrassed and amused. “Crap, sorry for startling you.”

Keith stood up and shook his head. “No worries, I should be able to keep fighting with distractions so it’s on me.”

Orion nodded and fidgeted still near the door. 

Keith raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“Do you mind if I keep you company? Aun-Pidge and Hunk keep asking questions and I really am not that good at keeping my mouth shut.”

He smiled at that. “Yeah, and they can be really nosy, but they mean well”

Orion nodded, more to themselves than to Keith, reminding him that they, in fact, knew him and his friends. 

Keith usually was really awkward around new people, so he looked inside his mind to try and find a common point. Then he eyed the robot and remembered Orion’s Marmora uniform. 

He pointed towards the fallen robot. “In a mood for a fight? There’s more where that one came from.”

And the grin Orion gave him instantly let him know that he had hit the nail on the head. 

Keith lent them one of the blades that was in the room and they started their fight two against two. This developed to three against two and four against two. Keith shouldn’t have been surprised at the skills of a Marmora member, but there was something else to Orion’s skill. They were clever, they were fast, but they were also patient. He noticed how their ability to pull back at times allowed them clear assessment of the entire situation. It was easy working hand in hand with them, they were great on their own just as with a partner.

After trying six against two they decided to rest. Keith tossed a bottle of hydrating liquid to Orion, grabbing another for himself and sat down on the floor. 

“You’re really good.” Said Keith genuinely as he cleaned the sweat off his forehead with his forearm. “You’re a great fighter.”

“No way.” Orion seemed to beam at that. They shook his head a bit afterwards, probably knowing that Keith meant what he said. “I just had really great teachers, that is all.”

“Give yourself some credit, pal.” He said, and genuine curiosity filled him. “Who taught you, though?”

Maybe it was someone he knew from Marmora, because somehow their style and technique were strangely familiar. Maybe too familiar.

Orion looked awkwardly at their hands. Keith thought it was interesting how sometimes they seemed so mature and even a little bit intimidating, but then other times they looked like...a kid. And he didn’t mean that negatively, but… he didn't know. Maybe it was just a thought.

“Right.” Keith understood. “We don’t want to mess up with the timeline.”

They nodded and so Keith nodded back reassuringly. For some reason he didn’t want Orion to feel any kind of discomfort, wanting to validate them any time they looked at him. Was it patronizing? Maybe it was, considering Orion was only a few years younger than him. Had he become patronizing? Did Shiro feel like he patronized him whenever he tried to talk to him? He didn’t want to reach the point of becoming annoying with his worry to the point where people felt like he was babying them, pitying them. He knew how that felt.

“You seem distracted. Is everything alright?” 

“Hm? Oh.” He realized he had become quiet all of the sudden. He thought for a bit, not wanting to give a disingenuine answer, but also not wanting to bother them with unnecessary information such as his crush on Shiro. 

“I mean, a lot has happened. When we are fighting or saving the universe or whatever we don’t really have time to think about it all. But with all the free time we’ve had ever since being stuck here it’s hard not to.”

Orion hummed. “I bet.”

Keith laughed a little. “Yeah, I bet you bet. You know more than all of us around here.”

“Not necessarily. One thing is hearing those stories, even countless of times. It’s an entirely different thing to experience them.” They shook their head. “It’s still surreal being here.”

He raised an eyebrow. “So much for a mistake, huh?”

“Uhhh...” Orion blushed, looking a little guilty. Again, like a kid who’d gotten caught.

Keith snorted. “Don’t worry. I think I might have done the same thing.”

He noticed Orion whispering to themself. “I might hold you to that.”

“But, really, it was not entirely on purpose. I like to think I’m responsible, but it’s like trouble likes to follow me.”

“I might not know about the first part but I know a thing or two about the last one.” He sighed, and looked towards the other Marmora member. “Will you get in trouble when you get back?”

“I don’t think so. As I’ve said, the blade is different in my time. I’ve been on missions on my own, they know I can hold my ground.” They smirked. “I hope my parents remember that. They can be a little protective sometimes. I’m not a kid anymore.”

For some reason Orion’s smile at that moment reassured Keith in a way he couldn’t understand. “That sounds like a family that cares about you.”

They eyed him for a bit. “I do. I feel very lucky. They might be embarrassing sometimes, and Papa might still want to protect me from cold air, but I’ve never felt alone or uncared for. We love each other.”

With the childhood that he had after his father died, Keith really hoped and wished that no kid ever felt the way he had felt. And if he had kids one day, he wanted to make them feel exactly as Orion had described how their parents made them feel. Completely loved.

After training for a bit longer they changed and headed towards Orion’s ship. The others were already there talking, gathered around it. Pidge already had her gadgets on the floor and was arranging them with Hunk. Allura and Romelle were with them, and Shiro was talking with Lance closer to the ship. Keith assumed that Kolia must have been with Coran where she was mostly needed. 

When they approached, Orion gave him a quick nod and went where Pidge and Hunk were to give their insight. When they sat down it seemed like they looked back at him and towards Shiro, as if encouraging him to talk, but maybe it was just him imagining things. 

He looked at Shiro, who immediately met his gaze. He said something to Lance and started walking towards Keith with a smile. Yeah, he definitely was different, thought Keith. His smile was genuine, for starters, and it was like he walked with a little less weight. More confident than the past few weeks.

Shiro looked more like himself, and it made something flutter in the inside of his stomach, all the way to his chest.

He couldn’t help but return that smile that was so selflessly given to him. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“So,” He cleared his throat. “How are things looking? Are we getting out of this galaxy soon?”

“Apparently Orion gave Allura and Pidge information about the galaxy matter formation which might have us leaving in the next few days.”

Keith’s eyebrows shoot up. 

“That’s nice, that’s great, actually.” He looked over to where Orion was and shook his head. “And here I thought I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”

Shiro chuckled, really chuckled and Keith couldn’t believe his ears. “They might change the space-time continuum… but at least they’ll get us home.”

Orion was talking and trying not to laugh at whatever Hunk, Lance and Pidge were snickering about and Keith couldn’t help but feel affection. “They're a great person. I wish they could stay.”

He looked back at Shiro and they were also looking at Orion with probably the same smile he had just seconds before on his own face. “They are.”

And in that moment, something in his gut told him... something. Something he had been missing completely. But before he could delve deeply into whatever it was, Shiro turned back to face him. His face was slightly more serious.

“Hey, Keith, listen.” He said, drawing Keith’s attention completely. “About yesterday… I’m sorry I left like that. Actually, I am sorry about how dismissive I’ve been with you lately. I know you’ve only been trying to help.”

Keith shook his head. “You have nothing to apologize for. I understand.”

Shiro gave him a little smile. “I know you understand. I really thought I needed space, but I shut you out completely and if in my doing so I’ve hurt you I want to make up for that.”

He sighed. “I actually want to talk to you more about this, and I promise I will, if you’d like to hear me out, but maybe I’ll need a little bit of time. Also, I want to be here for you as well. We’ve all been through hell and I want to hear whatever’s on your mind.”

Relief. That’s what mostly flooded Keith in his entirety at that moment. And affection, so much affection that he didn’t know what to do with his body. And as if acting on its own accord, one of his hands went to Shiro’s shoulders, something the other man often did. A surge of confidence overcame him. 

“At this point, I would have expected you to realize that it’s not that easy to get rid of me.” His eyes soothed. “I know you are here for me, as you have always been, but thanks for the reminder. And as for me, I will wait as long as you need. Whenever you are ready. I’ll be here.

“I’ll make sure to lean on you, if you lean on me too.” He playfully pushed Shiro’s shoulder and let his arm fall. “As many times as it takes, remember?”

Shiro’s eyebrows had drawn up in apparent surprise, which he, funnily enough to Keith, tried to cover right away. “How could I forget?”

Shiro reached out with his right hand, which Keith grabbed in the middle as to slowly draw each other close, never losing each other’s eyes until they met into a tight hug. And Keith could have remained there for the rest of his existence. They had hugged a bunch of times, but this one felt different. The look in Shiro’s eyes before they hugged, the, hopefully, subtle display of feelings Keith had allowed himself to show… something could change. Someone just had to do something about it. And Keith had never felt more confident. 

Someone coughed in the back and they separated, not without annoyance from Keith. 

“Sorry to break your little moment.” Pidge smirked. “But we need more muscle if we wanna move the ship.”

“It’s not as if I couldn’t move it on my own.” He heard Lance say before Shiro snorted and started towards their friends.

“Alright, tell me what you need.” 

Keith remained back for a bit, looking at the little scene in front of him. Somewhere during his conversation with Shiro, Krolia had gotten there and seemed to be giving insight on the situation. Hunk started laughing as Orion groaned and put a hand on their face in visible frustration. Keith guessed they must have revealed yet another thing they weren’t supposed to. The rest joined Hunk as Pidge and Lance started trying to get more out of Orion. Keith didn’t remember the last time he had seen them so relaxed. He didn’t remember when he had felt so relaxed, himself.

He saw as Shiro gently led Orion closer to the ship, saving them from the questions they seemed to be unable to ignore. They shared a few words and laughed lightheartedly. Keith couldn’t help but smile at seeing them interact. He guessed they must have bonded, just like they had in the training room. They looked so at ease with each other Keith could feel nothing but happiness, for some reason. 

He liked Orion, and genuinely meant it when he said he wished they could stay. He felt as though they belonged there with them, and that they could be a huge help in helping save the universe. But at the same time he thought they would be safer back home, and that was a priority.

There was something different in Orion, something that fit. Something that felt like... home. He just didn't understand how.

Then, Shiro said something and Orion ran their hand through their hair. A nervous habit, thought Keith once again. But where had he seen it before? The answer came immediately as Shiro shook his head and ran his own hand through his hair.

And suddenly, Keith understood.

\--

They continued working on the ship for a few days. They managed to quickly figure out what the problem was thanks to Romelle’s insight on Altean technology and Pidge’s ability to put two and two together. Shiro had been there all the way to help out as much as he could. 

After figuring out Orion was his kid, a sense of calmness that he had not had in a very, very long time filled him almost entirely. He knew that he shouldn’t know who Orion was, and he was being very careful not to act differently with them around the others but, at the same time, he was excited. He had a future, he would, hopefully, live. And if he did, he would have a kid. A kid as accomplished, smart and good as Orion. 

At first he thought that, maybe, it had to be another Shirogane. There were a lot of other humans with that same last name, but what he felt when he first laid eyes on them… They way they talked about their parents, and how close they were with the other paladins… it couldn’t be a coincidence. 

He knew that he should not think too hard on it either, it was information he was not supposed to have. But at night, at his weakest, he couldn’t help but wonder about Orion’s childhood, about what it took to have them. About their first word, wound, kiss, heartbreak. About Orion’s other dad. 

According to their conversation the other night, Shiro and him were supposed to be together still in the future. He assumed he was “dad” and there was also… Papa. But Shiro shoved his pillow on his face and forced himself to sleep. He would find out soon enough, he repeated himself, he would find out soon enough.

He wasn’t sure if the others knew, though they seemed like they didn’t. But, still, they treated Orion like one of their own, which made Shiro increscribibly happy. And Orion looked more and more comfortable as the days went by, but Shiro could bet they were missing their timeline. In the end, they were not really entirely the same people Orion knew. And so, even though he would have loved more time with them, he worked hard to get them home as soon as possible. Even though he knew himself enough to know that he wouldn’t tie his children down nor want to cut their wings, he knew that future him had to be worried.

They were taking a break now from working on the last few things of the ship. He was chatting with Allura as he sneaked a few peaks of Orion and Keith sharing their hydrating drinks and laughing. The sight of them together made Shiro impossibly happy. Keith, who was his favorite person, and Orion, his future. It was an amazing sight. The past few days they both had been training together a lot, sometimes with Shiro joining them whenever he wasn’t busy with Allura and Krolia setting the last things in motion to leave Entraptica. Those were also the only moments he had time to spend with Keith.

He had been acting a little… strange since Shiro had talked to him. At first, after that conversation, he had thought that Keith might have been… flirting with him, but he hadn’t tried anything else since, so Shiro let it go. Or had tried to let it go. 

Maybe Keith was just being a great friend and Shiro just wanted to believe he had been flirting, which could be problematic. They were friends, and he didn’t even know if Keith was into men. But he would have been lying if he said he hadn’t started thinking differently of him ever since he had come back to himself. Keith had changed and grown into his skin. He was confident, kind, strong and really fucking beautiful. Sometimes it blew Shiro away a little bit, but he tried pushing those thoughts away. Again, they were friends, and Keith had compared him to a brother, so he couldn’t think like that. 

But sometimes, these few days, when he looked at Keith and Orion together he couldn’t help but wonder if... 

But no. He didn’t want to go there. Unless it came from Keith, he would never make an advance. He valued him too much. And from what it seemed those couple of days, it was not like that for him. 

With a sigh, he stopped himself from thinking about it and paid attention to Allura. After a while, Lance came looking for her and so Shiro decided to approach the ship to work on where he left off. He passed Pidge, Hunk Orion and Keith who were the only other ones in there at that moment and grabbed his tools. He saw that the ship was closed so, without thinking about it, he raised his hand and put it in the door, which opened instantly. Shiro immediately froze. 

He quickly looked around and saw that both Hunk and Keith were still minding their business, but besides them Pidge had her eyebrows raised and Orion had eyes as big as plates. He instantly cleared his throat and went inside the ship to work on it. He hoped he had looked aloof, or like he hadn’t even thought about it, but after a few seconds Orion entered the ship and sat next to him.

“Uh…”

“We’re about to finish, right? No long until you are home safe with your loved ones.” He tried playing it cool.

Orion sighed and gave him a little smile. “You know, right?”

“What?”

They laughed. “You’ve always been an awful liar.”

Shiro sighed, ran a hand through his hair and sat with them. “I entered your ship that night we talked to see what I could do to help… and saw your name.”

Orion nodded and sank in defeat. “I changed it the following morning. Thought I was safe.”

Shiro chuckled and placed a hand on their shoulder. Orion seemed to relax instantly. “Don’t worry too much about it. It was just me being nosy, I should apologize.”

They smirked. “It’s kind of your ship too, so…”

Shiro shook his head, he was still in disbelief about Orion basically confirming what he had been suspecting. He laughed. “I mean… not yet.”

Orion eyed him for a bit. “Is it… weird?”

“To see my future kid? Definitely.” Orion shifted on the floor. “But I had never felt this hopeful about my future. You are a great kid, and I hope Future Me is at least a decent parent.”

Orion snorted. “It’s sort of embarrassing, and I hope you forget it somehow, but you and Papa are the best parents I could have ever hoped for. Even though I turned out as sappy as you are.”

And Shiro genuinely laughed big at that. “I always wanted to be an embarrassing parent.”

“Well, you and Papa are constantly fighting for the first place in that category.” Orion shook their head. “But I like it.”

Shiro couldn’t help the warmth and affection that spreaded through his chest. “Your Papa…”

“Oh,” They jumped. “Does Keith know?”

“I haven’t told any of the other paladins, and I don't think they suspect.”

“But does Keith know?”

Shiro was confused. “Uh? Why Keith? I’m not sure if he knows.”

Orion just gaped at him. “So they were right.”

“Hm?”

“About how oblivious y’all were.”

“Huh?” He was completely lost at what Orion was getting to. 

Orion smiled and shook his head. 

“Nothing, maybe it’s better this way. Let’s keep working, dad.” They stopped and looked at Shiro who shook their head and smiled reassuringly.

They continued working on the ship and after a few minutes the rest joined them. 

\--

After days of work, Orion’s ship was ready to, hopefully, send their new friend back to their timeline. It was bittersweet, since everyone ended up really liking Orion, but they all knew they had to go back where they belonged. Just like they had to leave that galaxy to continue defending the universe. 

And so, Orion would leave in just a few hours.

They’d spent part of that day listening to stories the paladins had, nodding at some stories as they might have already known, and looking genuinely excited with others. 

Since Keith had realized that Orion was Shiro’s kid, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly protective over them. He immersed himself into fixing the ship and tried to be there for them in any way he could. 

It also helped him not think about the crushing realization that what he had with Shiro would probably never become more than just an unrequited love. 

If getting in the way somehow hindered the existence of Orion, then he would back off completely and let Shiro live his life and have a family, just as an expectator. 

And Shiro had looked so at ease those days, he would hate himself if he were to change the course of his life that would lead him to that type of happiness.

It pained him, but it was beyond him. So he wouldn’t complain. He loved Shiro too much and had also really grown fond of Orion. 

A lot of things about them made sense now. He could definitely see how Shiro had had a hand raising them. Orion was kind, cunning and patient. Maybe a little rebellious, unfiltered and impulsive, but Keith guessed that was part of their own personality. But ultimately, they were a great person. And that was enough for Keith. 

He hadn’t had time to be with Shiro lately, but he wanted to try his best to act as normal as possible, and to just continue as they were before. Being friends. If that was enough before, it had to be now.

\--

And so, it was time to say goodbye. 

Thanks to Orion’s help, they had found a way to leave the galaxy they had been lost in. After they made sure Orion’s ship worked, they would be leaving as well. 

Shiro couldn’t shake off the feeling of loss, even though he knew that he would see them again. What’s more, he would see them grow into the person they were now, standing in front of the paladins. He felt incredibly lucky.

They all now stood in front of the ship, Orion facing them in their Marmora uniform. Hair thick, black and loose in a way that was… too familiar.

“I know we met like a week ago,” Hunk sniffed. “But I’m gonna miss you, buddy. You are the only one that truly appreciates my cuisine.”

Orion laughed lightheartedly and offered their hand. “We’ll meet again, and I’ll still eat anything you hand me.” 

Hunk firmly shook their hand, while he cleaned his tears with the other. 

Allura took one of their hands but both of hers. “I hope you get home safely.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed, taking their other hand with his’, in all familiarity. “Isn’t there a way you could let us know you arrived safely?

Their eyes soothed. “I mean, I got myself here so I’ll try to send a signal if I can. But don’t be too expectant. I might be denied access to our machines for a while.”

They ran a hand through their hair and faced Krolia. They instantly straightened up while she assessed them, but when Krolia broke into a smile, Orion immediately relaxed, giving her a hug that she reciprocated. Shiro raised an eyebrow and heard the rest of the paladins make surprise noises.

Before anyone could say anything Orion quickly moved to where Coran and Romelle were.

“Have a safe trip, kid.” He tapped them on the shoulder. 

“Can’t wait to know more about your world.” Romelle winked and shook their hand.

Orion eyed Shiro, then, and slowly made their way in front of him. They seemed to be struggling for words, so Shiro shook his head as if to tell them he understood. 

“I guess I’ll see you around,” Orion smirked, hesitating a bit. “Shiro.”

He laughed and offered his hand, which Orion ignored to give him a quick hug. Shiro’s heart broke a little bit.

He coughed, so tears wouldn’t betray him. “Get back to your family. I have a feeling they are missing you like crazy.” 

They nodded quickly as if to calm themselves too. They gave Shiro a quick last look and headed towards Pidge. 

“I want a hug too!” She said and Orion laughed as they hugged. 

“I think my loose mouth might be responsible for many of your future projects.”

“And I can’t thank you enough.” She said as she lightly punched their arm. “Take care, Orion. I hope we are lab partners in the future.”

Orion nodded. “I better not reply to that.”

“Hey, one thing. About your ship.” She quickly added. “Is it opened by touch recognition?”

Shiro raised both eyebrows as Orion ignored her and quickly moved to Keith. He hadn’t been thinking too much about that fact, which could mean-

“Thank you for the training.” They said, now in front of Keith. 

“Don’t mention it.” Keith smiled. “And it’s not like you needed it, anyway.”

They shook hands and it was Keith who invited them into a hug. As close as they were, Shiro could see how their hair combined perfectly, both in texture and color. Even their smiles looked similar.

“Take care, okay?” Keith said, now separating.

“You too, Papa.”

And he froze. 

And Orion froze and Keith froze and he could feel how the paladins and the rest froze, because suddenly everything went quiet. He felt like he couldn’t move.

“Anyway.” Orion laughed nervously. “I better leave before the multiverse gets destroyed. Again.”

“Again?!” Lance exclaimed.

Orion stood next to their ship and looked at them all with a smile. “Good luck, guys. I guess I’ll see you soon.”

Shiro was still gaping, but managed to give his future child a nod before they entered their ship. 

In a few seconds it started glowing. A voice on the inside could be heard. “Welcome back, Orion Shirogane. Where to, now?”

“Home, Elia. On my timeline, that is.”

Then, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, Orion was gone. 

It felt like minutes before Shiro decided to turn. He could feel everyone’s looks but all he could see in that moment was Keith gaping back at him. It was all he cared to see. 

“Why does this make so much sense?” He heard Lance say. 

“Oh, you guys didn’t know?” Hunk added. “Were we supposed not to? They were a copy of these two.”

“You knew before I did? I literally had just put two and two together.”

“Yeah, I always knew too.”

“Lance, I heard you gasp right besides me.”

“Hey,” Krolia interfered. “Let’s give them some space.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” He heard the steps and whispers as they left.

It was Keith who came forward first, slowly. Shiro still didn’t know what to say.

“Are you disappointed?”

He shook his head, trying to regain composure. “What?”

Keith cleared his throat and looked at him straight in the eye, head held high. “You knew they were your kid. Are you disappointed that they’re also mine?”

Shiro’s mind cleared up immediately. 

“Keith.” It was him who came closer now, looking at one of his oldest friends. He had been afraid of taking something from Keith, something that he wouldn’t give willingly. He stood by the idea that if he were ever to have Keith’s affection, it would be on the other man’s terms. And if he needed an answer on whether it was something Keith wanted, he didn’t need it anymore. Because it was in front of him, with Keith’s eyes as fierce as fire, and as vulnerable as his beautiful heart was. 

For how long had he been looking at Shiro like that? How had he missed such an important thing? How blind had he been? Was it possible that this man adored him as much as he adored him? Completely? Impossibly? He smiled, remembering that they had a child to prove that. Their child. 

“Keith,” he repeated and placed a hand over Keith’s scarred cheek. Slowly, so Keith could avoid it or dismiss it if he wanted to, but it was the opposite. It seemed as though he melted under it. “When I learned that Orion was my future child I thought no moment could surpass the happiness I felt. Except for now.

"So, no. I am not disappointed. What's more, I think I wanted it to be you. The idea of it being another…" He sighed, in realization of what had gone through his mind but decided to ignore those past few days. "I just couldn't imagine it."

Keith breathed out and closed his eyes for a second, before raising his hand and placing it over Shiro’s. Then opened them, looking at Shiro under his impossibly pretty eyelashes. 

“Is that so." He smirked, and Shiro suddenly felt like he could do anything.

He nodded and gently pressed his forehead against Keith's. 

"Yeah," he whispered. 

"Then, you should know that I'd never been this happy either."

Shiro moved his head back for a bit to properly look at Keith. He felt like he didn't need anything else but to stay like that, with him. Some force of the universe pulling him closer.

He leaned in, their lips meeting halfway. And suddenly everything made sense in that fucking complicated ass universe. He had never felt more grounded, at peace. He had found his place, there in the castle with the paladins, up in space where he had always dreamed to be, and with his arms around Keith.

After a while of tender kisses, Keith pressed his cheek against his. "Sorry it took us meeting our future kid for me to tell you."

Shiro chuckled. "Orion... what a good name. It's funny, it's like they got to choose it themself."

Keith chuckled too, against his chest. Sending shivers through his body.

"Let's not tell them about this, about them visiting us in the past." He looked back at Shiro with a mischievous grin. "Let them find out themself." 

He returned that grin. "Oh, it'll be fun when they get back. Let's wait for them afterwards, if we can."

He stopped as he started to feel a little bit self-conscious talking about the future when they had just had their first kiss. It was 25 years on, after all. But when he looked at Keith, smiling sweetly at him, every doubt and fear seemed to dissipate and, just like he knew about Orion, he just knew they'll be okay. They'll be okay, and together.

Suddenly the castle shook for a bit and a piece of what looked like paper appeared mid-air and fell on the floor, where Orion's ship had been.

Keith's eyebrows shot up and smiled as he picked it up and held it towards Shiro. It was a photo in incredible high quality that pictured Orion with a pained face, as two very familiar, more mature, figures in the back twisted in laughter.


End file.
